What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for December 13, 2012. 

This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
of Communications.  You may need to sign in or register with
individual websites to view some of the following news articles.

AIR POLLUTION

EPA finds contamination at former rocket test site. Lingering
radioactive contamination exists at a former rocket test lab
outside of Los Angeles that was the site of a partial nuclear
meltdown, federal environmental regulators said Wednesday. The
Environmental Protection Agency launched a $42 million study to
investigate radioactive pollution at the Santa Susana Field
Laboratory, 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/dec/12/epa-finds-contamination-at-former-rocket-test/#ixzz2ExBxJLp3
 

Study: Pa. wood-burning boilers a threat to health. A state
program intended to promote renewable energy may instead be
releasing high levels of pollutants, according to a report
released Wednesday. The report, funded by the Heinz Endowment,
says more than $70 million in state and federal grants and loans
for renewable energy have largely gone to commercial and
institutional biomass burners in Pennsylvania, which burn
different types of wood products and employ minimal emissions
controls. Posted. 
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/dec/12/study-pa-wood-burning-boilers-a-threat-to-health/#ixzz2ExDoFgrH


Area group wants more air pollution warnings.  A local air
quality coalition asked Kings County supervisors Tuesday to
support a push for more emergency air alerts on high pollution
days.  The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District only
issues the emergency alerts for blowing dust or smoke or if the
district is about to exceed federal limits on ozone.  Instead,
the group calling itself Stand For Clean Air in the San Joaquin
Valley wants emergency warnings to be issued via email every day
the air quality …Posted. 
http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/area-group-wants-more-air-pollution-warnings/article_4984ed78-449e-11e2-ad42-0019bb2963f4.html

CLIMATE CHANGE

Do Now #53: Cap-and-Trade for Carbon?  California recently
implemented a cap-and-trade program in order to cut carbon
emissions. Would a carbon tax be better or worse? What do you
think about cap-and-trade? How can companies be best regulated to
reduce greenhouse gas pollution? Since the Industrial Revolution,
there has been a substantial increase in carbon dioxide emissions
in the U.S. and countries around the world. The increase is due
to human activities, namely the burning of fossil fuels for
energy and transportation, industry processes and land-use
changes. Posted. 
http://education.kqed.org/edspace/2012/12/11/do-now-53-cap-and-trade-for-carbon/


DIESEL EMISSIONS

FUELS

Environmentalists sue California, spark fracking feud. California
doesn't regulate this new method of oil and gas exploration, so
activists sued. It might lack the big hair and cowboy hats of
Dallas, but the latest dustup between California’s oilmen and
environmentalists is certainly dramatic. In October, a group of
activists sued the state’s Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal
Resources over fracking, the controversial type of oil and gas
exploration that involves blasting water, sand and chemicals deep
into the ground. Posted.
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/environmentalists-sue-california-spark-fracking/content?oid=8569216


VEHICLES

Coolant safety row puts the heat on Europe's carmakers. When
engineers at Mercedes-Benz tasked with field-testing a
revolutionary new refrigerant watched it ignite in a ball of fire
before their eyes, it took a while for the significance of their
discovery to sink in. Simulating a leak in the air-conditioning
line of a Mercedes B-Class tourer, they had released a fine
mixture of refrigerant and A/C compressor oil, which sprayed
across the car's turbo-charged 1.6 litre engine. The substance
caught fire as soon as it hit the hot surface, releasing a toxic,
corrosive gas as it burned. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/12/uk-europe-cars-refrigerant-idUSLNE8BB01720121212


Mazda Leads Diesel Comeback as Dirty-Clunker Stigma Fades.
Thirteen years after Tokyo’s governor killed Japanese interest in
diesel cars by barring many of them from his city, the technology
is making a comeback as manufacturers adopt innovations that
improve its sooty image. Mazda Motor Corp. (7261) is betting big
on cleaner diesels, creating a challenge to imports and hybrids
as government incentives spur demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.
Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-11/mazda-leads-diesel-comeback-as-dirty-clunker-stigma-fades.html


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

High Speed Rail Moving Ahead Despite Criticisms.  Republican
Congressman Jeff Denham says California's $68-billion high speed
rail system is looking for too much money from the federal
government to help keep it on track.  DENHAM: "We have no ability
to come up with those funds, and that would be pulling money from
other areas if we did."  But Authority CEO Jeff Morales says
right now the project has enough funding to build the first 130
miles of the system through the Central Valley.  Posted. 
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2012/12/12/high-speed-rail-moving-ahead-despite-criticisms
  

Landowners air concerns about high-speed rail.  About 100
property owners packed an open house Wednesday to learn how their
farms, homes or businesses could be affected by California's
proposed high-speed train system.  But rain throughout the day
derailed a planned tractor rally and protest by farmers outside
the Madera Community College Center, where the state High-Speed
Rail Authority held its outreach meeting. What organizers hoped
would be a dramatic show of four or five dozen tractors turned
into a trickle of four or five.  Posted. 
http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/12/12/3099779/landowners-air-high-speed-rail.html


GREEN ENERGY

Lawmakers to push tax code change for renewable energy in 2013. A
group of U.S. lawmakers said on Wednesday that they plan to push
ahead in the new year to change the tax code so renewable energy
projects could qualify for beneficial tax structures commonly
used by pipelines and other energy-related companies. Democratic
and Republican sponsors of proposed legislation said they think
momentum is growing for their idea to allow wind, solar, biofuel
and other renewable projects to structure as "master limited
partnerships" (MLPs). Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/13/us-usa-tax-energy-idUSBRE8BB1V320121213


MISCELLANEOUS

Bike Nation USA Bringing Bike Sharing To Downtown L.A. Hundreds
of rental bikes will be deployed in early 2013 to the streets of
Downtown Los Angeles.  Bike Nation USA, a company based in
Tustin, announced plans in April to place 175 bike rental
stations in an area that will stretch from Union Station to
Exposition Park. Derek Fretheim, the Chief Operating Officer of
Bike Nation USA, said a launch date isn't set, but that it will
be soon. “We’re going to have a beta launch in the first part of
2013," he said. Posted.
http://www.neontommy.com/news/2012/12/bike-nation-usa-readies-downtown-los-angeles-bike-share-launch


Whole Foods shuts down Del Monte Center recycling station; city
cries foul. The recycling buyback station behind the Whole Foods
in Monterey’s Del Monte Center is gone, to the delight of mall
execs and dismay of city staff.
Before the closure, people
could weigh their recyclables at the station and collect the
California Redemption Value. But in early November, Whole Foods
closed the station with support from mall managers who viewed it
as a magnet for the homeless.
Posted.
http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/2012/dec/13/buyback-blowup/


Election over, administration unleashes new rules. In recent
weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed rules to
update water quality guidelines for beaches and other
recreational waters and deal with runoff from logging roads. The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, meanwhile, has
proposed long-delayed regulations requiring auto makers to
include event data recorders - better known as "black boxes" - in
all new cars and light trucks beginning in 2014. Posted.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/dec/13/election-over-administration-unleashes-new-rules/#ixzz2ExCjDhT0


OPINIONS

The Farming Forecast Calls for Change. WEATHER and agriculture
have always been intertwined in most every part of the world. No
matter which continent, farmers have always been at the mercy of
rainfall and temperature. Thus it is curious that most of the
conversation surrounding climate change — how the weather has
been modified by industrial activity — revolves around reducing
emissions (climate “mitigation”) and not on how to modify
agriculture to new weather conditions. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/opinion/global/the-farming-forecast-calls-for-change.html?_r=0


Solar Panels for Every Home. WE don’t think much about pitch pine
poles until storms like Hurricane Sandy litter our landscape with
their splintered corpses and arcing power lines. Crews from as
far away as California and Quebec have worked feverishly to
repair or replace those poles as utility companies rebuild their
distribution systems the way they were before. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/opinion/solar-panels-for-every-home.html


Blind faith of climate change deniers endangers us all. This
week’s Newsweek magazine features a couple of essays -- one about
Jesus and one about climate change -- that demonstrate the
difference between simple faith in the unknowable and blind faith
that denies scientific fact. An article by Bart D. Ehrman,
professor of religious studies at the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, discusses things that people believe about
the birth of Christ that are actually not in the Bible. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-blind-faith-20121213,0,4041383.story


Why California should invest in the electric bus. California’s
greenhouse gas (GHG) cutting goals from the Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) loom large as our state begins a
cap-and-trade market on Jan. 1, 2013. The program will reduce
emissions from the utility, industrial, and transportation
sectors, which cause 85 percent of the state’s total CO2
emissions. Yet the policies in place are too modest, and
California should update and electrify public transit. Posted.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/perspective/why-california-should-invest-in-the-electric-bus/article_f35458b2-4cba-52af-8aa3-67a729c7dd8a.html


BLOGS

Mercedes-Benz Offers E-Class Sneak Preview. The major step
forward in the engine compartment will take the form of a new
diesel engine, coming next fall, which could improve fuel
efficiency to something in the 40-plus miles-per-gallon range.
This turbocharged 2.1-liter, four-cylinder model, designated as
the E250 BlueTEC, will produce 190 horsepower and 369 pound-feet
of torque. The vehicle will also come equipped with 4-Matic
all-wheel-drive. The rear-wheel-drive, V-6 powered E350 BlueTEC
is being dropped. Posted.
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/mercedes-benz-offers-e-class-sneak-preview/


Good News in the Fight Against Bad Air. "Today is a bad air day."
You may have heard this warning on drive-time radio, especially
on muggy summer days. On "orange" days, the air is too thick with
pollution for infants, seniors, and people with breathing
difficulties, who are warned they should stay indoors. Those
people may miss work, school, and other important activities.
"Red" days are unhealthy for everyone. Even those in good health
are urged to avoid strenuous activities and time outdoors on
these bad air days. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-sheldon-whitehouse/good-news-in-the-fight-ag_b_2293770.html


Photo Essay: Postcards From the Second Most Air Polluted City in
the World.  It's coming on winter, and Ulaanbaatar, the capital
city of Mongolia, is making its annual transformation into the
second most air polluted city in the world. According to a
comprehensive study on urban air quality conducted by the World
Health Organization, Ulaanbaatar follows closely behind the
world's most polluted city, Ahwaz, Iran.  Ulaanbaatar houses a
third of the country's total population of 3.1 million people,
and the habits of these overcrowded residents are seriously
damaging the air. Posted. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nina-wegner/ulaanbaatar-air-pollution_b_2245035.html


15 Burning Questions (and Answers) for Biofuels in 2013.  Policy,
finance, technology, feedstocks, markets, prices, opposition. 
Here’s what’s on your mind, as the critical 2013 deployment year
for biofuels looms.  Great topic suggestions from Digest readers
have been pouring into my inbox all week — for the private,
pre-ABLC briefing that we are prepping for DC this April. 
Posted. 
http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2012/12/13/15-burning-questions-and-answers-for-biofuels-in-2013/